ESPARGARÓ RIDES HIS APRILIA DIRECTLY INTO Q2

ALEIX WILL START FROM THE FOURTH ROW IN THE MUGELLO GP
EIGHTH ROW FOR SAM LOWES

With an excellent FP3 session where he even led the provisional standings, battling with the best and finishing with a time of 1'47.173 just over six tenths from the leader, Aleix Espargaró went straight through to Q2.

In the final, decisive session that defines the top spots on the starting grid for the Italian GP, a crash during the first lap compromised Aleix's qualifying, so with only five laps done, the best in 1'47.475, he will start tomorrow from the twelfth spot on the fourth row of the grid. This is a good placement which, however, does not reflect the true value of the Espargaró/RS-GP package, capable of doing decidedly better times in practices. But the good race pace and the satisfaction drawn from the performance that the Aprilia has achieved on a challenging track like only Mugello can be, make Aleix and the entire Aprilia Racing Team Gresini optimistic about the race tomorrow.

Sam Lowes finished the first qualifying session (Q1) with a time of 1'48.416. He was also unable to repeat his performance from the morning practice sessions, so he will start from the eighth row with his 22nd best time.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'

"I am obviously disappointed with the way qualifying went because the RS-GP is working well this weekend. This race is important for the team and I am giving 100% in every session. Unfortunately, I crashed unexpectedly as I was following Maverick, so I wasn't able to take advantage of my good lap. It's a pity because I had the right feeling to be able to battle for the first or second row, a position that would have been a fantastic gift for all the guys at Aprilia. In any case, with used tyres, our pace is really good. In the race we will definitely be able to have our say."

SAM LOWES

"My race pace is rather good, despite the fact that this is not an easy track for us to be fast on. I was able to be quicker than the times the RS-GP did last year and that is a good point of reference for the work we are doing. We need to try to improve engine brake management on some corners, but overall I am confident. Based on what we saw in practice, we should be able to use the soft rear tyre and that could give us an advantage to fight for the points zone."